RANCHO SANTA FE  A 3-year-old Jack Russell terrier who may have been protecting fellow pups died during a coyote attack in a Rancho Santa Fe yard Wednesday.

The attack was announced by the Helen Woodward Animal Center and Companion Animal Hospital on Thursday, and it prompted the center to offer warnings and prevention tips, including keeping pets inside from dusk to dawn.

Jessica Gercke, spokeswoman for the Rancho Santa Fe-based center, said Wyatt, the terrier, was in the fenced backyard of his owner’s home with three other dogs when the attack happened between 11 a.m. and noon.

When owner Evon Werner came home from a short trip to run errands, neighbors told her they had heard a ruckus and spotted a coyote leaping over her 7-foot-high steel fence. She found Wyatt dead and two of her three other dogs injured.

“I’m sure he was protecting them,” Werner said of Wyatt, according to a statement released by the animal center. “He was fearless. He had to distract the coyote to save them.”

Heiney, a 2-year-old dachshund, was bitten on his stomach and shoulder. Lilly, an 8-year-old toodle, suffered head and neck wounds, Gercke said. Mikey, a 9-year-old Shih Tzu, was not hurt.

The two injured dogs were treated at the center’s animal hospital, and remained on antibiotics and pain medication Thursday.

Daytime attacks by coyotes are rare, Gercke said.

Other tips offered by the center to prevent coyote attacks on pets included keeping food out of the yard and avoiding walks with pets after dark. The center also recommend that pet owners install 6-foot-tall fencing and vinyl lattice at least 2 feet below ground, because coyotes are known to both leap and dig.